GOOD-LITERATURE 
COMMITTEES 
AT WORK 

f§? 

By AMOS R. WELLS 


“Ways of Working” Series. 

By Amos R. Wells. 


Price , 10 cents each . 


No. 1, Our Crowning Meeting. How To Make the 
Consecration Meeting More Helpful. 

No. 2, Sunday-School Endeavors. Suggestions to 
Sunday-School Committees. 

No. 3, On the Lookout. Methods of Work for the 
Christian Endeavor Lookout Committee. 

No. 4, Christian Endeavor Grace-Notes. A Man¬ 
ual for Music Committees. 

No. 5, The Christian Endeavor Greeting. A Man¬ 
ual of Information for New Members. 


United Society of Christian Endeavor, 

BOSTON and CHICAGO. 















Good-Literature Committees 
at Work 


BY 

AMOS R. WELLS 

0 

Managing Editor of The Christian Endeavor World 



UNITED SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR 


Tremont Temple 
Boston 


155 La Salle St. 
Chicago 






CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR 
SUMMARIES. 


By Amos R. Wells. 


No. 1. The Flower Committee’s Summary 4 §. # 05 
No. 2. The^ Effective Temperaace CtHn-* ; 

mittee .05 


No. 3. 


Good-Rrter^tu?e. c C c>nj mTt tee s 
Wprt-....: V, « *** ; * .•*/ . 



Others in preparation. 

P. 

publ. 

•3Ap^4 


Copyright, 1901 

BY THE 

United Society of Christian Endeavor. 







GOOD-LITERATURE COM¬ 
MITTEES AT WORK. 


The Need of the Committee. —Christian 
Endeavor is a religious and not a literary 
society. Nevertheless, Christian Endeavor 
should recognize the importance of good 
books and periodicals, and aid in every 
feasible way the mental growth of its 
members, without sacrificing the religious 
to the literary aim. Indeed, the work of 
the good-literature committee, if it is 
properly carried on, will quicken the spir¬ 
itual life of the society. It will do this by 
giving the members keener minds and 
broader views, and inspiring them with 
the noble thoughts of earth’s greatest men 
and women. As will be seen in many 
parts of this pamphlet, the work of the 
committee has also a well marked and 
thoroughly developed philanthropic aspect. 
The committee exists not only to get good 



from books and periodical literature, but 
quite as much to do good with these to 
others. 

The Make-Up of the Committee. — Two 

qualities are to be sought in those that 
constitute the good-literature committee. 
So far as possible all its members should 
be bookish, fond of reading, skilful in the 
wise choice of what they read, and en¬ 
thusiastic in presenting to others the 
claims of good literature; but also it is 
quite as necessary that the committee 
have the executive faculty, and be able to 
conduct its work in a businesslike and 
effective manner. One or two members 
may be placed upon the committee, even 
though they are of inferior literary judg¬ 
ment and are deficient in literary enthusi¬ 
asm, for the purpose of increasing their 
liking for good books and bettering their 
tastes. 

The Waste of Good Literature. — It is 

the common experience in every home 
that periodicals and often books accumu¬ 
late with astonishing rapidity. Where 
they are not thrown away or burned up, 


4 


they are usually stored in the attic to be 
eaten by the rats or uselessly to moulder 
away. One object of the good-literature 
committee is to prevent this waste. A 
use can be found for all kinds of Christian 
reading-matter, as well as for everything 
that is pure and elevating in the produc¬ 
tions of the secular press. 

Definite Calls. — In the work of collec¬ 
ting for charitable ends the good literature 
of the community, that it may not go to 
waste, our committee cannot be too defi¬ 
nite. If it merely issues a call for the 
books, pamphlets, and periodicals with 
which the Endeavorers and church mem¬ 
bers are through, it will receive a very 
meagre return; but if, on the other hand, 
it selects some particular object, some in¬ 
stitution, needy church, or individual, as 
the recipient of its bounty, and adds this 
statement to its appeal, the response will 
undoubtedly be more generous, especially 
if some interesting fact regarding the pro¬ 
posed beneficiary is added to the call. 
The committee may well print a placard 
stating the need of good literature and the 


purpose for which it is desired, and keep 
this placard standing before the eyes of 
the Endeavorers in the prayer-meeting 
room. 

Literature Exchanges. — For years there 
has existed in the Chicago Christian En¬ 
deavor Union a most useful good-literature 
exchange. Its address is 1122 Associa¬ 
tion Building. Its manager receives from 
all parts of the country requests for good 
reading-matter for the use of the poor and 
of others that need it, and also receives 
from societies and individual Endeavorers 
statements of what literature they have to 
give away. Then the two classes are put 
in communication. Such an exchange 
might be put in operation in any Chris¬ 
tian Endeavor local union. 

For Prisoners. — Somewhere near to 
every society is a jail or a State prison, 
and there is opportunity for a magnificent 
work in furnishing these prisoners with 
good reading-matter, which is nowhere so 
thoroughly appreciated as behind prison 
walls. Do not think that just anything 
will do; the prisoners will soon resent a 
6 


course of ancient newspaper files, tattered 
Sunday-school papers, and torn copies of 
G-odey's Ladies’ Magazine. Give them the 
best, for they need it if they do not de¬ 
serve it, and though it should not be all 
religious, sprinkle through it a goodly 
amount of noble, religious reading. Read 
yourselves what you give the prisoners, so 
that you can talk over the articles with 
them afterwards, and thus form an ac¬ 
quaintance which may win your way into 
their hearts. 

For Soldiers and Sailors. — On board 
ship and in army barracks there is little 
money to buy good reading-matter, but, 
on the other hand, there is ample time for 
reading, and there are minds eager for the 
best. If the good-literature committees 
would gather up the periodicals and books 
that are lying useless in Christian homes, 
this standing need might easily be met. 
Miss Antoinette P. Jones, Falmouth,Mass., 
will always be glad to give addresses of 
persons who will see that good literature 
is put in the hands of sailors, and for the 


soldiers yon have only to address the chap¬ 
lain of the nearest army post. 

The Barber Shops and Railway Stations.— 
Any place in your town where men have 
to wait continually is an excellent depot 
for reading-matter. One of the best of 
such places is a barber shop, because here 
men always read while waiting their turn, 
and the reading-matter provided by the 
barbers is usually nothing but the poorest 
of the dailies and the comic weeklies. If 
something more uplifting is provided, it 
will be read, as abundant experience of 
Endeavorers has proved; and the barbers 
are always willing to have you add to 
their resources along this line. 

The engine houses are other good places, 
and so are the boot-black stands. One of 
the most useful spots is the railway sta¬ 
tion, where so many thousands spend 
weary hours every year. Many instances 
of good accomplished by such means are 
recorded. Care must be taken, however, 
that no old numbers of periodicals and no 
antiquated books be permitted to remain 
in the wall pockets or other repositories 
8 


at these places. Everything should be 
fresh and attractive. 

In the Park. — Remembering that the 
parks are favorite places for resting and 
lounging, many good-literature committees 
have put pockets on the backs of the park 
seats. These pockets are of wood, with 
tops that protect them from the rain, and 
they bear a legend indicating their object. 
Inside they are well stocked with good 
reading-matter kept fresh and varied. 

The Committee Stamp. — The good-liter¬ 
ature committee should obtain a rubber 
stamp for marking plainly whatever pieces 
of reading-matter it sends out — to the 
hospitals, parks, railroad stations, and the 
sailors far away. These stamps should 
read “ From the Good-Literature Commit¬ 
tee of the Christian Endeavor Society of 

.Church, ..(City), 

.(State).” Such a mark will 

be a standing advertisement of Christian 
Endeavor, and will give the periodicals a 
beautiful meaning. 

Prepay Freight. — It is always to be un¬ 
derstood in sending reading-matter to any 
9 





worthy object that the postage or the ex- 
pressage or freight is to be prepaid in full. 
In every case, probably, the persons to 
whom you send would be unable to pay the 
cost of transportation. Besides, sometimes 
the distance is so great that it does not pay 
to send the literature at all, since it would 
be cheaper to buy it on the spot. 

For Hospitals and the Sick. — Bright 
scrap-books filled full of interesting read¬ 
ing and pretty pictures will be welcome at 
any hospital, old folks’ homes, or similar 
place. It is a good plan, in preparing these 
for the sick, to fasten the pages together 
only four at a time, so that they will be 
light for the feeble hands to hold. Classify 
the clippings for such leaflets, making one 
a poetical collection, another a collection 
of jokes, and so on. It is a good plan, also, 
to paste clippings of an entertaining na¬ 
ture on fans, covering the entire surface. 
These, also, will be found useful in hospi¬ 
tals or in the homes of the sick of the 
congregation. 

A Scrap-Book Evening. — The good-lit¬ 
erature committee will find it very pleas- 
10 


ant, if it has made a collection of clippings 
which it wants put together in scrap¬ 
books or other shape, to set the entire 
society to work at the task. Arrange long 
tables with brushes and large vessels full 
of paste. Part of the company will paste 
the clippings upon sheets of paper, which 
are afterwards bound. Others will sort 
the clippings. Still others will trim them. 
Perhaps you will have piles of papers for 
others to search with scissors for good ma¬ 
terial for scrap-books. By the end of the 
evening all your material will have been 
worked up, and you will have had a cap¬ 
ital time to boot. 

An Envelope Library. — Take stout ma- 
nila envelopes and number and catalogue 
them like the books of a library. Put into 
each some interesting clipping or set of 
clippings. Into one will go a delightful 
and profitable story. Into another will go 
a little collection of poems, comforting in 
sorrow. A third will contain a number of 
humorous articles. A fourth will hold two 
or three of the best missionary articles you 
can obtain. Perhaps the majority of the 


11 


envelopes will have good stories or bright 
essays. 

Next, obtain a set of “ subscribers ” to 
the library, there being, of course, no 
charge. Get as many old folks and sick 
folks in your list as you can. Arrange 
these in the most convenient order, and 
let each pass the envelope on to the next 
as soon as its contents have been read. 
When the envelope returns to the commit¬ 
tee, new clippings will be inserted, and it 
will be sent again on its journeys. 

A Clipping Library. — One of the most 
useful modes of using clippings is to ar¬ 
range them with a view to their service in 
preparing for the prayer meeting. Classify 
them in envelopes, marking each envelope 
with a topic likely to come up in our 
Christian Endeavor meetings, such as 
prayer, heaven, sin, salvation, Bible, mis¬ 
sions, temperance, pledge, faith, happiness, 
truth. As the clippings come in, prose and 
poetry, place them in their appropriate en¬ 
velopes, and you will soon have a choice 
treasure of prayer-meeting thoughts ready 
12 


to help out the younger members and 
those that are inexperienced. 

Good Sunday Reading. — The Sabbath is 
generally a day of special loneliness for 
all who are shut in, both the sick and the 
aged. They are unable to go to church, 
and since probably many of the family go, 
they feel a sense of isolation. If the good- 
literature committee will take special pains 
to remember these shut-in friends on the 
Sabbath, providing them with suitable 
Sunday reading, and taking it to them 
with a cheery word, they will contribute 
much to their own enjoyment of the 
Lord’s Day. 

Furnishing Readers. — It is not enough 
merely to furnish books and other helpful 
reading-matter. In the case of many sick 
and aged persons it is quite as necessary 
to furnish readers to go along with the 
books. Many young people with clear 
voices, sunshiny manner, and ready sym¬ 
pathy, would be a rare blessing in the 
sick-room, and by the chairs of the aged, 
and if the members of the good-literature 
13 


committee should enlist such Endeavorers 
in this beautiful service, and systematize 
the work, they would do a great kindness 
not only to the beneficiaries, but also to 
the young people who are sent forth on 
such errands. 

Books in Common. — It will be a gen¬ 
uine service, especially for those members 
of the society that are not blessed with 
many worldly possessions, and also for 
the younger and less experienced readers, 
if the good-literature committee prepare a 
catalogue of all the books of the commu¬ 
nity that are accessible to any careful bor¬ 
rower. Of course a personal canvass will 
be necessary; and of course, also, the list 
should contain only the best books. I 
would recommend the discarding of fic¬ 
tion, and the selection only of standard 
works not easy to obtain but of especial 
serviceableness. 

The committee should make it its en¬ 
deavor to put in communication with the 
store of good books thus generously opened 
up, only those readers that are in earnest 
and honestly desirous of increasing their 
14 


knowledge. Applications for the books 
should be made to the committee, who 
should obtain the books, thus becoming per¬ 
sonally responsible for them, and return 
them after the borrower is through with 
them. There should be a system of fines 
for the sake of repairing any damage, or 
making good any loss ; and possibly there 
should also be a membership fee, that the 
books may be more valued by their 
readers. 

Literature Tables in Churches. — Every 
church should have a literature exchange, 
and these are especially valuable where 
there is no public library or reading-room. 
A table should be placed in the church 
vestibule, and a placard above it should 
ask the church members to bring to the 
table any periodicals they are through 
with, and at the same time it should give 
permission to any one to take from the 
table for home reading whatever he 
pleases. There is no obligation to bring 
them back, but whatever remains at the 
end of the month is sent away to some 
good object. The Christian Endeavor 
15 


good-literature committee may easily set 
this plan in operation, and keep it going. 

Sermon Extracts. — A very helpful and 
pleasant bit of work for the good-litera¬ 
ture committee is the collection of bright, 
comforting, instructive extracts from the 
pastor’s sermons, and printing them for 
distribution through the congregation. 
The extracts may be made from the pas¬ 
tor’s manuscript, if he uses manuscript, 
or, if not, some shorthand reporter may 
take notes. The printing-press may be 
used, or some duplicating device, and a 
half-tone portrait of the pastor may be 
bound in at little cost. An attractive 
pamphlet may thus be prepared which, if 
given away, will serve to advertise the 
church in many homes, or, if sold, will 
put many a dollar in the society or church 
treasury. 

The Church Paper. — If the society has 
a press committee, the church paper should 
be left to it; but if there is no such 
committee, the good-literature committee 
might well carry on all the work of a 
church paper, if the pastor and the church 
16 


desires, of course under the direction of 
the pastor or of some other competent 
overseer. They could get the advertise¬ 
ments, attend to the mailing, obtain sub¬ 
scribers, and even in many cases they set 
the type and do the printing. If the En- 
deavorers do not take entire charge of 
such an enterprise, tfrey may be made re¬ 
sponsible for a certain part of the paper, 
say a page. 

As Subscription Agents. — Often the only 
reason why the denominational missionary 
periodicals and the other periodicals of the 
denomination are not taken in large num¬ 
bers in the church is because there is no 
one to look after the matter. Each year 
the good-literature committee should carry 
on a systematic and determined canvass 
for good periodicals. It should have on its 
list The Christian Endeavor World, the de¬ 
nominational missionary magazines, some 
leading denominational paper, and some 
representative temperance paper. Prob¬ 
ably there will be no reason, either, why 
it should not also take subscriptions for 
the best of the secular journals, especially 
17 


the most able reviews ; but usually those 
will take care of themselves, and what the 
Endeavorers are most desirous of pushing 
is strictly religious reading. Divide the 
town into districts, and let each member 
of the committee work his own district 
thoroughly. 

A Sample Table. — It will greatly help 
the committee in this work if they will 
establish in the society meeting-room a 
table devoted to the display of samples 
of all the periodicals for which they 
are taking subscriptions. If the pub¬ 
lishers are offering premiums, show the 
premiums also. Placards above the table 
should give terms, and state also the 
names of the committee ; but some mem¬ 
ber of the committee should always be on 
hand during the time when the Endeav¬ 
orers are near, to 44 talk up ” the period¬ 
icals. 

Literary Socials. — Much interest may 
be excited in good reading by enthusiastic 
literary socials. It is a good plan to de¬ 
vote each to the study of one author 
whose works are accessible. His portrait 
18 


should be upon the wall. Other pictures 
relating to him may be shown. A brisk 
account of his life should be given. Ex¬ 
tracts from his works will be read, recited, 
and sung. Whatever can arouse interest 
in him as a man and an author will be 
brought forth. Some skilful speaker will 
give practical directions as to the way to 
read him — what books first, and how to 
get the most out of his writings. 

This kind of social may be varied by hav¬ 
ing an evening given up to the German 
authors, for instance, or to the authors of 
your own State, or to women poets, or to the 
great essayists, and so on. Many attract¬ 
ive socials of the kind are fully described 
in “ Social Evenings,” Social to Save,” 
and “ Eighty Pleasant Evenings,” all sold 
by the United Society of Christian En¬ 
deavor (35 cents each). Among these are 
“ newspaper socials,” “ magazine socials,” 
and the like. 

Literary Debates. — A very valuable ex¬ 
ercise for a literary social, especially use¬ 
ful for the interest it excites in good 
reading, is the literary debate. It should 
19 


be conducted like ordinary debates, and 
the theme should be some literary ques¬ 
tion, such as “Was Hamlet insane?” 
“Did Shakespeare write the works com¬ 
monly attributed to him?” “Which is the 
greatest American poet? ” “ Has America 
or England furnished the truest humor?” 
“ Does romance or realism have the most 
helpful influence on life?” These are old 
questions, and the society may well be 
sufficiently advanced to take less hack¬ 
neyed themes. If so, all the better. 

A similar sort of amusement for socials 
is the following. Let each member pres¬ 
ent name his favorite periodical, and tell 
why it is his favorite; or his favorite 
story ; or his favorite poem. 

A Campaign against Fiction. — At some 
social give the Endeavorers pencils and 
pieces of paper, and ask them to write 
lists of all the books they have read dur¬ 
ing the year. You will get a good variety 
of lists, and the whole will give your com¬ 
mittee a view of the intellectual tastes of 
the society such as it could hardly gain in 
any other way. Offer a prize for the best 
20 


list. In most societies, however, I fear, 
even the best list will contain very little 
but fiction, and such a test may be made 
the text and basis of a campaign against 
fiction. Endeavor in every way to show 
the Endeavorers that, though fiction is 
valuable and not to be omitted from one’s 
reading, nevertheless those whose chief 
reading is stories are sure to be intellectual 
weaklings, nor are they likely to be stronger 
spiritually than intellectually. 

In Regard to the Public Library —If 
there is a public library in your town, the 
good-literature committee should open up 
a work in connection with it. Study the 
catalogue, and offer to guide the Endeavor¬ 
ers in their reading. Watch the new books 
as they are received, and speak of the best 
of them in the society meeting. Speak 
privately of all the good books you can 
learn about that are in the public library. 
Get in touch with the librarian. If you 
know of some book that would help the 
young people in any way, if it is not in 
the library, ask that it be purchased. Do 
the same for good periodicals. The public 
21 


library is your most useful tool in your 
work for the promotion of good literature. 
Use it wisely and energetically. 

A Town Library Founded. — What nobler 
or more permanent work is possible for a 
good-literature committee than the organ¬ 
ization of a town library, where none 
exists? Often the circulation of a petition 
will bring sufficient pressure to bear upon 
the town officers to win a regular appro¬ 
priation for the library from town funds, 
especially if the citizens give the enter¬ 
prise a good start by private donations. 
Let the Endeavorers themselves take 
turns as librarian, and if the library can¬ 
not be kept open all the time at first, let 
it be kept open as long and as often as 
possible, especially in the evenings. A 
well-stocked reading-room and a room 
where quiet games can be played will add 
immensely to the influence of the estab¬ 
lishment. 

One Book a Month. — At the time of 
writing, The Christian Endeavor World is 
pushing the plan of “ One Good Book a 
Month,” furnishing at remarkably low 

22 


rates a single fine classic each month, in 
the endeavor to promote good reading and 
wean the young folks from over-much 
fiction. Either in connection with that 
paper (if it continues its present plan), or 
by yourselves, this excellent method may 
he carried out. Make “ One good book a 
month” your slogan, and see how many 
of the Endeavorers you can persuade to 
undertake this reading. The committee 
may prescribe a uniform course, leaving it 
for the Endeavorers to obtain the books ; or 
they may be able to buy them cheaper for 
the society; or each Endeavorer may be 
allowed to make his own selection, a prize 
being offered for the list of twelve books 
read by the end of the year which, in the 
opinion of three competent judges, is the 
finest selection. 

Half an Hour a Day. — Another slogan 
well worth raising is, “ Half an hour a day 
for the best books.” The committee may 
obtain promises for this endeavor. Let the 
members of the society keep their records 
of time, at the same time keeping a record 
of the number of pages read each day 
23 


and of the books read. At the end of the 
year a committee of good judges will take 
these lists and determine which is the 
best record, making estimate of the regu¬ 
larity, the number of pages, and especially 
the quality of the books. This plan is 
already in most successful operation in 
many homes. The prize of a good book 
for the best record will be a helpful stim¬ 
ulus. 

A Literary Bulletin. — Place somewhere 
near the door of your meeting-room a 
large sheet of paper with a stiff backing. 
A pencil will hang by a string at its side, 
and the Endeavorers will be asked to 
write on the bulletin the names of the 
articles, poems, and books they have re¬ 
cently read which have helped them most, 
always telling where they may be found. 
Even if only a few do this, the custom 
will be a delightful and profitable one, 
and it is a custom quite sure to grow. 

Five Minutes for Good Literature. — It 
would not be amiss, but, on the other 
hand, quite in harmony with the purposes 
of a Christian Endeavor prayer meeting, 
24 


if five minutes should be set apart at the 
beginning of every meeting, in which time 
some one Endeavorer should tell about 
the best book he has read during the past 
year. Every member should take turns in 
making this report, and the knowledge 
that such a report is to be given will do 
as much as the reports themselves to stim¬ 
ulate and direct the best reading. 

Reading Circles. — In few ways can the 
good-literature committee do more useful 
work than by organizing reading circles. 
These are at their best when they are 
merely neighborhood affairs, three or four 
congenial young folks coming together, 
perhaps one evening a week, in some 
pleasant parlor to read and discuss some 
book that is really worth while. A society 
broken up into such neighborhood groups 
would be bound together by the most de¬ 
lightful of ties. 

Study Classes. — In every locality prob¬ 
ably some one can be found who is capable 
of carrying on classes in the study of the 
best literature, and in most societies the 
good-literature committee could, with a 
25 


little effort or with none at all, organize 
such classes and place competent teachers 
over them. A whole winter, if you are 
ambitious, might be spent upon Browning, 
or Shakespeare, upon the great essayists, 
upon German literature, upon Dante, upon 
the writers of the Puritan times, and the 
like. You can gain in this way a con¬ 
stantly broadening culture, and the effect 
in the enrichment of your prayer meeting 
would be immediate and marked. 

A Course of Lectures. — The good-liter¬ 
ature committee will do much to promote 
the cause of good reading if it can obtain 
the services of some skilful lecturer on 
literary themes. The lectures may treat 
the biographies of great authors, or may 
speak of the books themselves. Sell course 
tickets energetically, and you may make 
enough for the nucleus of a society 
library, as well as set the Endeavorers to 
reading the best books. If no single lec¬ 
turer, who is capable of this work, is ac¬ 
cessible, the committee may be able to 
construct a delightful course by obtaining 
lectures from home talent, one from a 


26 


school teacher, one from a minister, one 
from a doctor, and so on. A lecture 
course of the kind is possible in almost 
every community, if the committee only 
have faith and determination. 

Book and Magazine Clubs. — In a maga¬ 
zine club each member buys one magazine 
and has the reading of all the magazines, 
letting the others read his. The club 
should be kept so small that each member 
can keep every magazine perhaps three 
days, and yet read all the magazines in 
the course of the month. On a three-day 
basis ten magazines and ten members 
would lie about right, and many societies 
could support several such clubs. 

In making up your list of periodicals, 
get as great a variety as you can: several 
magazines of general literature, one of 
science, one solid review, one of general 
missionary intelligence, one summary of 
the current news, one literary review, one 
magazine for women, one magazine of out¬ 
door life, and so on. The secretary of the 
club will order all the magazines together, 
thus effecting a considerable saving, and 
27 


at the end of the month each subscriber 
will retain the magazine for which he 
especially subscribed. The same plan is 
followed with regard to books, the books 
being bought only after mutual consulta¬ 
tion among the members. 

A Christian Endeavor Library. — A small 
library especially devoted to Christian En¬ 
deavor helps will prove of the greatest 
advantage to the society. It will prove 
economical, too, in the long run, since the 
same committee helps may then be handed 
down from one year’s workers to the next. 
The United Society of Christian Endeavor 
and the denominational publishing houses 
have now a full supply of books and pam¬ 
phlets describing all kinds of Christian 
work for the young, and a complete set 
of these may be bought for a song. Every 
good-literature committee should send to 
the United Society of Christian Endeavor, 
Tremont Temple, Boston, and obtain their 
price list, asking also for the low rate at 
which books are sold for society libraries. 

And not only Christian Endeavor helps 
should find place in these libraries, but 
28 


books on missions, on temperance, on de¬ 
nominational history, on Christian evi¬ 
dences — in fine, whatever will aid the 
prayer meetings. 

A librarian should be appointed, and 
the books regularly charged and distrib¬ 
uted. Use a system of fines and collect 
strictly, for the sake of adding to the 
library. Some societies meet the cost of 
the library by charging two cents a vol¬ 
ume for the privilege of reading — a 
charge which soon redeems the cost of 
the book. Other societies increase their 
libraries by holding book socials, the ad¬ 
mission fee being some good book. One 
society of which I have heard has deter¬ 
mined to add to its library each year as 
many books as Christian Endeavor is years 
old! Many capital Christian Endeavor 
stories have been written, and if these are 
added to the library, they will form an 
additional source of popularity. 

Committee Helps. — If a Christian En¬ 
deavor library seems inadvisable, at any 
rate the good-literature committee should 
obtain a full collection of Christian En- 


29 


deavor committee helps, and loan them 
from year to year to the different commit¬ 
tees. In this way it will aid the society 
more than by anything else it could pos¬ 
sibly do. 

The Sunday-School Library. — If you 

have a Sunday-school committee, it may 
be left to work this field, but otherwise it 
falls to the province of your ccrmmittee. 
First find out the best books in the library, 
and then make them known. Hold a li¬ 
brary meeting, in the course of which a 
number of Endeavorers will speak, each 
telling about some bright book to be found 
in the school library. Have the books 
there to show. Give every one a piece of 
paper and a pencil to jot down the num¬ 
bers. Have the librarian there to issue 
library cards to all that do not already 
hold them. 

In addition, the committee may interest 
itself in adding good books to the school 
library. Especially, if you have no Chris¬ 
tian Endeavor librar}^, see that the Sun¬ 
day-school library contains as many 
Christian Endeavor books as possible, and 

30 


also books on missions and temperance. 
Possibly you can get the Endeavorers to 
give each of them one book, or hold some 
entertainment to raise money for this pur¬ 
pose. 

A Private Good-Literature Committee. — 

I have read of a group of young men who 
banded themselves together, quite inde¬ 
pendently of any action on the part of 
their Christian Endeavor society, for the 
purpose of obtaining good reading-matter 
first for themselves, and then to be given 
away. They assessed weekly dues of ten 
cents each, and thus were enabled to buy 
a quantity of helpful books, pamphlets, and 
tracts, which they distributed to the best 
advantage. Such a group might be formed 
in any society, limited in number only by 
the willingness of the Endeavorers and 
the size of their purses. 

The Use of Tracts. — Every good-litera¬ 
ture committee should learn, and, having 
learned, teach the other Endeavorers the 
value of tracts and how to use them. 
Choose your tracts with much care. The 
American Tract Society, 150 Nassau 
31 


Street, New York City, will furnish them 
in great variety and at small cost. So, 
doubtless, will your denominational pub¬ 
lishing house. Tracts on special themes 
in which you become interested, such as 
tithing, kindness to animals, and the like, 
must be sought from special sources. No 
tract should be used that is not well 
printed, attractively put together, and 
written in an interesting style — simply, 
and in a manly, straightforward fashion. 

In the same fashion the tracts should 
be presented. Just a word is enough: “I 
am interested in what this leaflet says, and 
I am trying to get folks to read it. Have 
one, won’t you ? ” Such a request does 
not single out the recipient as the object 
of special attention, which he might re¬ 
sent, but loses him in a multitude of 
others to whom you appear to be giving 
the tract. 


32 


Our UlorRers' Library. 


Cloth bindings; 35 cents each , post-paid. 


THE OFFICERS’ HAND-BOOK. By Amos R. 
Wells. A complete manual for presidents, secre¬ 
taries, and treasurers. 

THE MISSIONARY MANUAL. By Amos R. 
Wklls. A complete hand-book of methods for mis¬ 
sionary work. 

FUEE FOR MISSIONARY FIRES. By 

Belle M. Brain. Practical plans for missionary 
committees. 

PRAYER-MEETING METHODS. By Amos 
R. Wells. The most comprehensive collection of 
prayer-meeting plans ever made. 

SOCIAL. EVENINGS. By Amos R. Wells. This 
is the most widely used collection of games and social 
entertainments ever published. 

SOCIAE TO SAVE. By Amos R. Wells. A 
companion volume to “ Social Evenings.” A mine of 
enjoyment for the society and home. 

OUR UNIONS. By Amos R. Wells. Wholly de¬ 
voted to Christian Endeavor unions of all kinds. 

WEAPONS FOR TEMPERANCE WAR¬ 
FARE. By Belle M. Brain. Full of ammunition 
for temperance meetings. 

NEXT STEPS. By Rev. W. F. McCauley. A 
storehouse of suggestions for every Christian En¬ 
deavor worker. 

CITIZENS IN TRAINING. By Amos R. 
Wells. A complete manual of Christian citizenship. 

EIGHTY PUEASANT EVENINGS. A book 
of social entertainments intended for societies and 
for individual use. 


tlnitca Society of Christian ewJeaoor, 

Chicago: 155 La Salle Street. 

Boston: TremontTemple. 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

















































